A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World
June 14, 2021
Practical advice abounds in this compassionate guide to conducting meaningful discussions about the environment from climate scientist Hayhoe (All We Can Save). Aiming to show “how to have conversations” that “ genuine relationships and communities,” Hayhoe casts aside the notion of believers versus deniers and instead makes use of a grouping system devised by researchers Tony Leiserowitz and Ed Maibach that divides people into six categories: the alarmed, concerned, cautious, disengaged, doubtful, and dismissive. It is easier to target messages, Hayhoe notes, when one better understands the audience: if talking to someone doubtful, for instance, scientific explanations can help change their minds, but taking the same approach with dismissives will lead to them doubling down on their rejection. The author also considers the emotions of fear and guilt that come up when talking about the health of the planet, and suggests it’s key to channel these emotions into a belief that things can be fixed. Above all, Hayhoe’s advice comes down to bonding and connecting with people; a way to begin, she writes, is to ask “Because of what we both care about, why might climate change matter to us?” While some may find her outlook a bit rose-tinged—“We can fix it. There are solutions”—those in search of a hope-filled approach will find plenty of encouragement.
Starred review from August 1, 2021
Climate scientist Hayhoe (political science, Texas Tech Univ.; chief scientist of the Nature Conservancy) offers a highly readable, well-organized study of polarizing issues surrounding climate change; it's also memoiristic. The book loudly announces its intentions in the first pages, where Hayhoe articulates the intersection of her scientific research and her situated knowledge (the idea that knowledge reflects the context in which it is produced and the identity of its producer). Too often, realism and hope exist in opposition, which is deflating (and, as Hayhoe brilliantly argues, defeatist) during a time of cataclysmic unrest in social, environmental, medical, and political spaces. Hayhoe's book contains careful arguments, scientific data, and personal stories about climate change, but its most significant contributions are, first, showing readers that conversations with others have an impact, and second, explaining how to have dialogues in open, loving ways to move toward change. Hayhoe is open about the deleterious effects of partisan politics on the ability to talk about environmental issues. The strategies she leaves her readers with are therefore as much about having difficult conversations across party lines as they are about science. VERDICT Spanning the intersection of science, politics, and memoir, Hayhoe's debut offers guidance on what readers can do to effect change.--Emily Bowles, Lawrence Univ., WI
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